The Pixie, the Pirate and the Pyromaniac
Session 1 --- The Grogpit '– I''n which the Harbour Watch learn the value of asbestos underwear. It all started with a bored sprite who was being paid to be the sole light source in the tavern known as the Grogpit, possibly the worst drinking hole this side of the Abyssal Plane, but certainly the worst drinking hole in Absalom. A bored fey is never a good thing, and Lady Moonbow decided to liven up the evening by starting a bar fight using a suitably placed ghost sound cantrip on a pair of patrons playing Knivesies. A nearby pirate, going by the name of "Prince", liking a good bar fight decides to stop fondling the barwench Emma and to wade in, in the name of Besmara instead. This knocks more pub patrons flying and scaring off a priest who was just about to start preaching. Not satisfied with the current level of mayhem, Lady Moonbow spills Sad Gerald's pint (which just makes Gerald sadder). However, a pyromancer named Andy arrives at the Grogpit and adds to the mayhem by deciding to set everyone on fire using burning hands. Taking a cue from this, Lady Moonbow decides that setting fire to the coat of one of the only group of patrons not fighting might be a good idea. Now virtually the entire pub is involved in the fighting except for Sad Gerald who is being consoled by Emma the Barwench. Lady Moonbow starts throwing daze''s at anyone who looks like threatening the pyromancer and the pirate priest while Prince starts hitting people with a chair and Andy goes sprawling after attempting to move away from the angry patrons with the knives. With many of the patrons down for the count, the Harbour Watch finally arrive, only to fall into a tangled heap after slipping on Lady Moonbow's carefully placed ''grease spell. The Grogpit is suddenly filled with mist and Andy, deciding that invisibility is the better part of valour, vanish''es. Prince attempts to stealth in the mist by stumbles over the furniture invoking Besmara's name loudly several times. Lady Moonbow decides that it is time to leave, casts ''sleep on the remaining standing guard and leaves the pub at high speed with her lights off. Prince also uses the opportunity to leave and Andy sets fire to the Harbour Watch until they surrender. All in all, just a normal night for the Grogpit except for Emma and No Longer Sad Gerald. '''To the Coins! - In which some thieves have a particularly bad day. With a new comradeship forged in flying beer and fire, the three mismatched compatriots make their way toward the market district known as The Coins, mainly because there is no irate Harbour Watch there. Perched on Prince's hat, Lady Moonbow notices that they are being followed by a group of Nere-do-wells intent on relieving the gallant heroes of their money. The five thuggish thieves suddenly become a bit upset when all the local vegetation decides to trap them and Prince advances menacingly on them through the crowd. They also don't appreciate Andy throwing a dagger at them. By the time Andy hits one with a heat ray, most of the thugs are already fleeing except for one who remains trapped in the shrubbery. After dragging the last thief down an alleyway, stripping him and using his manacles to attaching him to a drainpipe, the three brave adventurers notice that the alleyway is blocked at both ends by burly bodyguard types, a robed lady and a large coach. Apparently, some bloke known as the Librarian wants a word and the robed lady who smells strongly of cloves won't take no for an answer. The three find themselves in the coach with the curtains pulled taking a roundabout route to somewhere. The 'somewhere' turns out to be the courtyard of an impressive mansion where Miss Delaney, the robed lady leads the three through a hall full of cages of strange animals into a library to meet Kai Verney, the Librarian. It seems that the Librarian is a collector of exotic animals and that he has lost one - a golden goose. It also seems to Lady Moonbow, that the Librarian would love to see her in one of his cages... The Librarian says that a good place to start would be to make enquiries at the Crimson Coin, an inn run by Torman Iates, a man who finances many things, including the Librarian's activities and who seems to have had a good deal of luck recently. Agreeing to look for the goose seems to be a good option and the three are taken by Delaney, in the coach to the Crimson Coin Inn to start their goose chase. The Crimson Coin - In which a purveyor of fine hats becomes extremely important. The Crimson Coin is a multitude of magnitudes better than the Grogpit being clean, well lit, the only place in the city that gambling is legal and the first drink is free. After a short chat with Torman, all the while being watched warily by Torman's Orcish lady bodyguards, the three have a good night's rest after a brief search of the premises by Lady Moonbow turns up no sign of the golden goose. Talking with Torman in the morning, he explains that three other adventures arrived yesterday, also asking about the goose. To get information, one of them, the Paladin, had to fight and defeat Jack Hughes, the best gladiator in the place. This the Paladin did, and Torman told the River Eye Valedictorians adventurers all he knew. What were our brave three prepared to offer? A pit fight was out of the question, but dirty deeds done dirt cheap was an option - A certain Doctor Mercury could be killing people with poisonous fancy hats and evidence to take him down would be essential. People who don't mind getting their hands dirty would be ideal for a job like that. While Andy and Prince enjoy the facilities of the Crimson Coin, Lady Moonbow stakes out Doctor Mercury's Fancy Hats, following the Doctor home after he shuts up shop. Returning to the Crimson Coin, Lady Moonbow tells Andy and Prince on which street the Doctor lives, telling them that she will meet them there after she has searched the hat shop. After finding nothing but fine hats in the hat shop and spending some time admiring them, Lady Moonbow flies to the Doctor's house to find Andy and Prince arguing over which house is the Doctors. It's the one they're standing outside of. To start the proceedings, Andy breaks the glass of the front room window with a cobblestone then sets fire to the curtains to see what happens. A water elemental happens, putting out the fire and chasing Andy and Prince down the street. Nice distraction - Lady Moonbow flies through the broken window and searches the house while the other two deal with the water elemental and an angry Doctor Mercury who suddenly appears throwing stinking clouds and glitterdust with wild abandon. After finding some suspicious jars and removing the labels as well as an evil looking tome, Lady Moonbow rejoins her companions to find them in trouble. She takes down the Doctor with one carefully placed dart (Ha! See how he likes poisons!). It turns out that the original Doctor Mercury had been killed and replaced by an evil impostor and the Tome and jar labels would be enough to put him on trial. Reward is a Wand of Knock and the same information that Torman gave to the River Eye - Some ‘men from out of town’, probably pirates were seen taking the goose to the Precipice Quarter and that if no time was wasted, they could be caught up with. The party decide to spend the night and drink beer. Andy and Prince do not appreciate the two fine hats that Lady Moonbow has acquired for them. Going Over the Precipice -'' In which a city quarter full of undead is not visited.'' Andy needed to sell the armour that he stole from the thief left manacled to a drainpipe in an alleyway, so the pirate and two sorcerers headed for the market. Keeping an eye out on what was going on around; Lady Moonbow spotted a robin and a falcon together, which was altogether unnatural. Ducking into a market stall to try and evade the followers, the three adventurers find themselves in a shop selling fine perfumes, toiletries and aphrodisiacs. Leaving the two humans, Lady Moonbow sneaks out of the market stall to deal with the robin and the falcon. A merry game of hide and seek takes place around the market ending up with the robin trapped in a child's fishing net after some careful guiding with copious use of ray of frost. The robin turns into another sprite, a druid who knows some fairly rude words in Sylvan, the falcon is his companion, Highshadow. He says that he is 'His Entitled Magnificence, the Glade Duke, Pin Cornseed, Protector of the Last Green' and that he has come to warn Lady Moonbow of the dangers presented by the Librarian - who once kept him in a cage in his menagerie. Lady Moonbow agrees to take care and will visit Duke Cornseed at his home in the 'Last of the Green', Puddles District. Meanwhile, Andy and Prince have got bored and wandered off to find a Brothel in the Street of Red Silks (?). They are greeted by Duke Velvet, the Velvet Duke who asks them their desires. Prince goes with Silk and Gossamer, two courtesans, while Andy goes off with the Duke's right-hand man. Oops! It's a slaver's honey trap operation and Prince ends up magically charmed by Silk while Andy ends up entangled in a net. Luckily, rope nets burn quite well, as does sheets, pillows, tents, clothes... allowing Andy to escape and rescue Prince. Lady Moonbow joins up with them again at this point following the screams and smoke. Some gossiping old ladies at the edge of the Precipice Quarter say that the River Eye Valedictorians have already been into the quarter and appear to have lost most of their gear and come back empty handed. They were last seen heading down to the docks. Ignoring the undead infested area totally, the three head down to the docks themselves. Pirate Palaver -'' In which the River Eye Valedictorian's goose is cooked.'' Heading down to the docks, it is easy to see where the River Eye Valedictorians have gone as the stern of a ship moored in the harbour explodes in magical icy fire. Lady Moonbow, Andy and Prince arrive at the docks to find the pirate ship, 'The Sharp Thorn' surrounded by Harbour Watch while an epic battle rages on board. The Sea Dragon Paladin Malthas Greenfellow is on deck holding hordes of pirates at bay while the Rake Sir Belagore parries blows from pirates in the crow's nest. Somewhere below decks, the Mage Darius Costello hunts for the goose. The Librarian has exerted his influence, and the Harbour Watch do not try to immediately kill Andy and Prince, letting the party board the pirate ship unmolested. Prince immediately engages the Paladin in mortal combat and there is much fancy sword work. Lady Moonbow immediately flies in through the broken stern windows and down into the hold to seek the goose. Andy also heads holdwards. Finding her way blocked by a mage and a horde of angry pirates, Lady Moonbow vacates the stern end of the hold and enters from the prow end using an open hatch just in time to see the Mage Darius flatten several pirates with an icy sphere and freezing hands but leaving the goose free to be taken. Unfortunately it's too big and unwieldy for a seven inch tall sprite. Andy enters to find that Darius has hidden. The fight does not go well, all Andy's fire spells bounce off the well protected Darius and he manages to remain unaffected by Lady Moonbow's Daze and Grease spells. His ice spells badly wound both of the heroes forcing them to flee back onto deck. Up on deck, the fight between pirate and paladin still rages on. up in the crow's nest, Belagore is getting overwhelmed by pirates and slides down the rigging to the deck. The now badly injured trio of adventurers gather together for some healing from Prince before selecting more targets to fight. Belagore now goes below to retrieve the goose as Darius steps out of the stern cabin. The pirates in the rigging now use their bows to lethal effect, wounding adventurers on both sides and soon Darius is forced to jump over the side or be killed. Andy and Prince join forces to hold off the rest of the pirates while engaging the Paladin, finally taking him down. Prince calls out to the pirates, "In the name of Besmara, stand down" and they do so, just as Belagore climbs from the hold clutching the golden goose. Surrounded by a sea of sharp blades, he surrenders. The fight is done. Andy takes the Paladin's head, saying something about ransoms and the golden goose is returned to the Librarian's carriage waiting on the dockside. --- Session 2 --- Pin, Puddles, Pretty Stones - In which the party get rich and Lady Moonbow drinks too much. The morning after the big fight at the docks, Lady Moonbow sets off to the Puddles to track down Pin and the rest of his clan while Prince and Andy decide to stay in bed. It turns out that it is quite difficult to find the last few remaining trees in a flooded quarter of the city and it is some time before she eventually comes to the Inner Sea, a flooded park. Here, it is obvious which tree houses the sprite clan – it is the only oak tree that even looks vaguely healthy but is still losing the battle against the salt water. Entering the clan’s hold, she is notices that there is not one single female amidst Pin’s people and that she seems to be the centre of attention and an impromptu party. After perhaps one too many nectars, Lady Moonbow decides that it might be prudent to leave while her virtue is still intact, but not before promising Pin that she would try to track down someone who could move the tree to a better location or maybe transform it into something more salt tolerant… Heading back out of the Puddles, she meets up with Andy and Prince at the Grogpit where surprisingly, Miss Delaney, the Librarians right hand lady turns up, all silent-like and hands out three bags of shinies. Back to the Coins - In which everyone gets on like a market stall on fire. Each bag holds a small fortune in gems and the party know what to do with a small fortune – spend it! It’s time to visit The Coins and to buy some new toys. There is much to see and buy, and Andy spends time listening to a bunch of out of town rabble-rousers who seem to have something against the Pathfinders. Andy cheers them on while Prince spends some quality time with two lovely young ladies who are out shopping. Leaving a shop after buying a new zappy stick, Lady Moonbow notices a pair of young thieves stealing sausages from a market stall and doing her civic duty, informs the local guard. On closer inspection, it appears the two girls are half starved and Lady Moonbow has a change of heart – it’ll be more fun to let them get away and have some fun with the guard instead. By this time, Andy has got into an argument with the crowd listening to the rabble-rousers and there is a sharp exchange of views followed by a gout of flame billowing out from Andy’s hands and collateral damage to a nearby market tent which bursts into flames. Prince is still chatting to the two ladies while the two thieves attempt to flee from the pursuing guard. Lady Moonbow uses ‘drench’ to dump water all over the chasing guard who blames a nearby shopkeeper. While dealing with the shopkeeper, the guard calls for help and two more guards give chase to the thieves. Meanwhile Andy casts ‘Obscuring Mist’ and walks away from the fight he has started. Prince, suddenly interested in the fight takes his leave from his conquests and joins the fight, passing Andy unseen in the mist. Andy, seeing the fleeing thieves decides to do his civic duty and casts ‘Unnatural Lust’ on them and as they kiss and cuddle each other, the pursuing guards close in. At this point, Lady Moonbow decides that casting ‘Grease’ in a crowded market place would be such a fun idea and the two guards go sprawling. The big fight with the rabble and the rousers has been joined by more guard and has turned nasty as steel is drawn. Andy decides to help it on its way by breathing fire all over the melee and Prince, feeling that discretion being the better part of valour flees the fight. Realizing that the two young thieves, now no longer interested in exploring each other have now escaped the guard, Lady Moonbow notices a lady in red leaving a nearby shop wearing a magnificent hat… Gaining a Hat is a Bad Plan - In which the Lady in Red is not dancing with me. It’s a trap! The hat contains a cage mechanism that catches Lady Moonbow in its clutches and the lady in red flees the marketplace. Prince hears Lady Moonbow’s calls for help at chases after, followed by Andy. Through narrow, twisting alleys, the chase goes on, until Lady Moonbow casts ‘Grease’ under the running lady. She falls flat on her face, rattling Lady Moonbow badly – perhaps ‘Entangle’ would have been a better option… It turns out that the lady is no lady, but Durian, a henchman of the Librarian, in disguise. Apparently he still wants a sprite for his collection. Before letting Durian go free, Andy burns his eyebrows off and Lady Moonbow applies several ‘Drench’ cantrips. It’s not the end of the matter though; four of Durian’s thugs turn up on the surrounding roofs and catch the party in nets. Nets are no much for sharp blades, fire and very tiny people; battle is joined again. Lady Moonbow tries out her new wand by summoning a swarm of rats for Durian to deal with, then uses ‘Colour Spray’ on the thugs. Andy burns a thug with scorching rays then charms another. Prince deals with Durian by stabbing him repeatedly until he flees. Prince gives chase to the singed, damp, rat bitten rogue in drag. The charmed thug lowers a rope, allowing Andy to get on the roof and between them, Andy and Lady Moonbow deal with the remaining thugs by dropping a large amount of acorns on them. This just leaves the charmed thug, and Andy pushes him off the roof. The thug flees. Lady Moonbow finds Prince face down in an alleyway, bleeding badly with Durian nowhere in sight. A healing potion from one of the thugs soon puts things right, but it’s a close thing. One of the remaining thugs regains consciousness just enough for Andy to take him somewhere private to gain information. It’s decided that maybe a disguise would be a good idea until the Librarian and his cronies can be dealt with and the group return to the Crimson Coin for the night. The disguises prove their worth as during the evening, a lady circulates around the inn asking questions about Andy and Prince – she is told that they have been seen boarding a ship in the harbour and are leaving town. Breaking and Entering - In which the Librarian gets more sprites than he bargained for. Using information gained from the remaining thug, the party locate the Librarian’s hideout and Lady Moonbow cases the joint, cutting escape routes in the sticky sprite proof netting covering the courtyard and the drainage channels into the street. Before the party arrive at the Librarian’s, travelling through the sewers to avoid being seen, Lady Moonbow says she has an idea and disappears off for a while. Andy and Prince examine the outside of the Librarian’s mansion while waiting for Lady Moonbow to return, deciding on the best way to get into the place. On her return, Lady Moonbow isn’t alone; she has a large percentage of the Puddles Sprite clan with her. Apparently, a deliberate wardrobe malfunction and a thirst for revenge on the man who kidnapped their leader make a good recruiting tool for bachelor sprites. Sprites also make it easy to get a rope up to the second floor windows and a ‘knock’ spell opens more than doors – it opens windows too! Prince, Andy and the sprites climb the rope and find themselves in the Librarian’s bedroom, surprising the Halfling maid that’s preparing a bath. A combination of Andy’s charm spells and Prince’s charm stop her from running off and getting the guards, however, two do come to investigate the noise and are summarily stunned by a sprite’s colour spray and dispatched by the party. Andy examines the door into the upper part of the Librarian’s library. The door has a trap spell on it he says – Summon Flowers. Lady Moonbow takes a look and says it’s more like Cone of Cold… The house guard are getting suspicious and send a squad upstairs to find out what’s going on, however Andy and Prince have disguised themselves as the two previous guards and the combined might of the party and the sprites soon defeat them. Now, the mansion is in an uproar and the party will have to move fast if they are to deal with the Librarian and his henchmen. Moving downstairs, and leaving Pin and his sprites upstairs to keep watch on anyone trying to sneak up behind, the party upset a guard who flees to find his superior. Looking through a secret door into the room that the Librarian keeps his menagerie, a whole host of guards and their captain can be seen. Andy uses his knock wand to open one of the cages containing a griffin and all hell is let loose in the room. The griffin kills a guard almost instantly and Andy comments that he’s never killed a man with a knock spell before. The guards are better than they look though, and eventually kill the griffin just as the party join the fray. Fighting back and forth, the guards are whittled down one by one until just two are left, the captain and another. Using a message spell previously cast by Andy, Pin warns that Miss Delaney is coming down the stairs and is invisible. The Puddle sprites, following standing orders leave as it’s about to get nasty. Pin puts Faerie Fire on Delaney and follows her down the stairs. Without the advantage of a hidden attack, Delaney attacks and proves to be a rogue rather than a mage. She is not however, fireproof and eventually succumbs to the party’s swords and spells, but not before causing Prince to flee out of the main gate, where he triggers a lightning trap and is laid low. The captain, alone by now flees into the library, locking the door behind him and releasing the remaining monsters from their cages. Chaos reigns and one of the captives has a very bright light that blinds Lady Moonbow as she goes to help Prince and it is up to Andy to gather the group together in the stables until the effects wear off. Luckily, the monsters fight amongst themselves and after an hour, the blindness wears off. The party return to the menagerie room to find only one creature remaining, which attacks after it is disturbed from its slumber but is quickly defeated. The waiting about has given the Librarian and his allies time to prepare and the battle kicks off when the door to the Library is opened. Lady Moonbow keeps up a constant Rain of Acorns, driving the librarian to seek shelter and then blind her. Prince engages the captain and defeats him but then gets blinded by the Librarian himself. Andy keeps to the rear of the fight, trying to avoid the spells being thrown about. Another message arrives from Pin, Durian is coming down to join the fight via another set of secret stairs. Unfortunately for Durian, Andy is waiting for him and fiery battle ensues. Having run out of acorns to drop, Lady Moonbow uses entangle to slow down their adversaries although the Librarian does insist on dispelling the effect, only for it to return a few seconds later. Durian and the Librarian are no match for the party and are defeated. Revenge is extracted by looting anything valuable that they had, telling the servants to scarper and torching his mansion. Victorious, the party go back to the inn.